Sky Guide AR review

Erin Myers

2018-08-10

Professional Critic

Erin Myers

Sky Guide AR review

2018-08-10

Review Standarts

Our main goal is to provide full and useful app reviews. Our authors strictly follow the rules: minimum 15 hours of the real app usage experience or gameplay, test on main Android and iOS versions, test on phones and tablets.

What do we know about the sky? The wisdom of ancients meets the power of modern telescopes, and humankind’s knowledge expands maybe even faster than the universe. But what does it mean to you? Well, if you never took a minute to watch the stars, here’s the app that may change the way you see the world.

Meet Sky Guide AR by Fifth Star Labs.

Interface — 5/5

Just launch the app, and it shows you what it’s about. The camera is activated automatically, and what you see on the screen is mostly the sky as it is behind what our eyes can see.

The controls are as easy as can be; you won’t have to learn any new tricks to control the app.

This is the case you may finally make use of the camera on your iPad. The sky on the tablet screen looks much bigger than through iPhone (no, we didn’t forget that the real sky is still bigger, but we mean the impression).

The app has a home screen widget you can use on iOS 11. It shows you what astronomical events to expect today so that you won’t miss any star news.

Content and Features — 5/5

The mission is to show you the sky. You will see separate stars and constellations (even if not a single star out of it can be seen), read their descriptions and learn about them a lot. The constellations are accompanied by images of what ancients saw in them. And these images reopen your eyes.

You can even look beneath; Earth is no obstacle to this virtual eye. So you can even see the sun in the night.

To learn more about any star or constellation, you can just tap it. In the right part of the screen, you will see the info panel.

If it suits the situation, you can turn up its music player. No songs from your iTunes; it plays real star music. Each star visible on the screen has its note; its volume and tone depend on the brightness of the star and the distance to it.

There’s even more to this app. Its camera can make shots or videos so that you can capture star motion. It’s especially great to create time-lapse videos for an hour or two, or even all night long. You’ll have to use a phone or tablet stand to make sure your device stands still. Don’t forget to connect the charger. But it’s certainly worth your efforts.

Not only does the app show stars, but also planets or artificial satellites and even the ISS.

Last but not least: the app can model star positions and movements for virtually any day. For example, you can see the stars of the day you were born, or you got married. So romantic and scientific at the same time.

Usability — 5/5

The app has really no requirements to sky condition. It may be all clouded up; when you point your iPhone or iPad to a certain point in the sky, it still shows all the stars there, assisted by location services and position sensors. It’s good to know that there is always something shiny behind any clouds.

There are options like zooming in or out (with default gesture of two fingers) or adjusting the brightness by moving two fingers up or down.

Compatibility — 4/5

As the app utilizes a relatively new AR engine, it’s available for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, but it requires iOS 10.0 or later. Another limitation is performance. If your device hardly moves on iOS 10, we recommend waiting until you purchase something new.

The app is exclusive for iOS, so don’t expect its versions for Android or more exotic problem. Let it be a pleasant surprise if other versions are released.

Conclusion

When David Pogue characterizes this app as “stellar”, he’s twice right. Sky Guide AR discovers the beauty and power above our heads we notice too rarely.

With this app, you’ll have more reasons to look at the sky through a new tool, alone or with someone you want to share this view with. The app is $2.99, and it seems nothing before this open space.